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Max Scherzer Hosts Workout For Several Teams

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It’s been a relatively quiet offseason with regard to chatter on future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer. The three-time Cy Young winner was limited to nine starts of 3.95 ERA ball for the Rangers in 2024. He missed time early in the year while recovering from offseason back surgery and was also sidelined by a nerve issue in his hand, shoulder fatigue and a strained hamstring. It’s a length list of issues, particularly for a pitcher who turned 40 last summer.

Still, Scherzer has been preparing to pitch in 2025 and recently held a workout for scouts, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. SI.com’s Pat Ragazzo reported recently that the Blue Jays, Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Braves, Red Sox and Cubs were among those who were represented at the showcase. (That’s not necessarily an exhaustive list of teams.)

The Blue Jays have been the team most prominently linked to Scherzer thus far in the offseason, and Feinsand indeed suggests that Toronto has been the most serious suitor for Scherzer. Ragazzo adds that the Mets have “some level of interest” in bringing Scherzer back on a one-year deal. Time will tell whether the right-hander’s recent showcase for scouts drums up any new bidders, but Feinsand quotes one showcase attendee who suggested that Scherzer looked good — not up to his prior Cy Young standards but still “good enough to be an effective starter.”

At least in the 43 1/3 innings Scherzer managed amid all those maladies in 2024, that looked to be the case. In addition to his previously mentioned 3.95 ERA, the right-hander fanned 22.6% of opponents (roughly average) with a terrific 5.6% walk rate. His once-95-mph fastball sat at a career-low average of 92.5 mph in 2024, however, and he dealt with home run troubles for a second straight year (1.65 HR/9 in 2023, 1.45 in 2024). The righty’s swinging-strike rate (14.6%) remained excellent, but most of those whiffs came off the plate. Scherzer’s opponents made contact on 83.1% of swings within the strike zone — his highest level since 2011.

For the Jays, Scherzer wouldn’t need to reprise his status as an ace, however. Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Jose Berrios have the top three spots in the rotation. Bowden Francis and Yariel Rodriguez follow, but Francis has minor league options remaining and Rodriguez could move back into the bullpen. Toronto’s pitching depth, in general, is somewhat shaky with Alek Manoah on the mend from elbow surgery and top prospect Ricky Tiedemann missing most of the 2024 season due to injury. Rotation candidates beyond the top five include prospects Jake Bloss and Adam Macko as well as non-roster invitees Adam Kloffenstein and Eric Lauer.

The Mets have a more crowded staff, but president of baseball operations David Stearns is known for hoarding depth. Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, David Peterson, Paul Blackburn and reliever-turned-starter Clay Holmes make up the starting staff right now. Swingmen Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill could get looks, too, as could top prospect Brandon Sproat. Fitting Scherzer into the puzzle is a bit of a challenge, particularly given the 110% luxury task the Mets are facing.

MLBTR Podcast: Ryan Pressly To The Cubs, Bregman’s Future, And Jurickson Profar

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Will Ben Cherington get the Pirates a right fielder before spring training? (21:10)
  • What is holding up Jack Flaherty’s market? (23:15)
  • Why is the MLB offseason so different from the other sports? (29:00)
  • Is there a common thread with the unsigned free agents? (32:50)
  • Brett Baty to the Padres and Luis Arráez to the Mets, straight up, no money changing hands. Who says no? (38:45)
  • News of the Pirates signing Adam Frazier breaks during recording (39:25)
  • Back to the Baty-Arráez question (39:50)
  • Should the Cubs get Michael King from the Padres and what would the cost be? (42:50)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Marlins Claim Connor Gillispie, Designate Jhonny Pereda

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The Marlins announced that they have claimed right-hander Connor Gillispie off waivers from the Braves. The righty was designated for assignment by Atlanta last week. Catcher Jhonny Pereda has been designated for assignment by the Marlins as the corresponding move. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reported the moves prior to the official announcement.

Gillispie, 27, made his major league debut with the Guardians last year in limited fashion. He tossed eight innings over three appearances, allowing two earned runs, striking out eight and walking five. He was non-tendered in November, heading out to free agency without being exposed to waivers. Atlanta signed him to a split deal shortly thereafter but bumped him off the roster when they signed Jurickson Profar.

The major league track record isn’t much to go off, so the clubs in Atlanta and Miami are surely looking more at Gillispie’s minor league performance. Over the past four years, he has thrown 406 innings on the farm with a 4.12 earned run average, 24.1% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate. Gillispie has worked both as a starter and reliever throughout his time in the minors, so he can potentially provide the Marlins with a little extra depth in both areas.

Pereda, 29 in April, also made his major league debut last year. He started the season with the Marlins on a minor league deal and was selected to the big league roster in the middle of April. He lasted on the 40-man through the rest of the year but was mostly on optional assignment. He got 40 major league plate appearances, hitting .231/.250/.231 in those. His minor league numbers have been better, with a combined line of .286/.381/.400 over the past four years, production which translates to a 108 wRC+. Baseball Prospectus has given him decent marks for his minor league work behind the plate.

The Marlins are fairly thin at catcher, with Nick Fortes and Liam Hicks the projected top duo, though prospect Agustín Ramírez could force his way into some playing time this year. The club will have a week to figure out what’s next for Pereda, whether that’s a trade or some fate on waivers. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would have to come together in five days. If Pereda passes through waivers unclaimed, the Fish can keep him around as catching depth without him taking up a roster spot in the short term.

Braves, Cubs Among Teams Interested In Ryne Stanek

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The Braves and Cubs are among teams interested in right-handed reliever Ryne Stanek, according to a report from Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Stanek was listed among a number of relievers the Cubs have looked into earlier this week, though this is the first time a connection between the veteran and Atlanta has been reported.

Stanek, 33, split the 2024 campaign between the Mariners and Mets. Things did not go well for the veteran last year, as he pitched to a 4.88 ERA (78 ERA+) with a 4.14 FIP in 55 1/3 innings of work, though he did manage to punch out 27.8% of his opponents despite those struggles. That down season came after a strong run with the Astros in Houston from 2021 to 2023, where he pitched to a 2.90 ERA in 173 2/3 innings with a 3.91 FIP. His numbers started to taper off a bit towards the end of his time in Houston, however, and a closer look at his numbers over the past four seasons reveals an interesting dichotomy.

During Stanek’s first two years with Houston, he posted a 2.41 ERA and 3.62 FIP. Since then, however, those figures have ballooned up to 4.50 and 4.36 respectively. That’s in spite of the fact that his strikeout rate during those peak years (28.2%) isn’t that far off from the 26% figure he’s posted the past two seasons. That mild drop in strikeouts has been more than made up for with a reduced walk rate, as well. From 2021 to ’22 Stanek walked a hefty 13.2% of opponents faced, but the past two years have seen that number drop to just 10.1%.

The culprit for that discrepancy lies within Stanek’s batted ball data. In that first pair of seasons, Stanek did quite well in limiting the worst types of contact. His barrel rate was a solid 7.1%, and while 43.5% of his batted balls allowed were fly balls just 7.8% of them left the yard to become home runs. The past two seasons, however, have seen Stanek start getting hit much harder. His barrel rate has jumped to 8.4% since the start of the 2023 season, and that’s caused him to become much more homer-happy in recent years. With fly balls now making up 51.6% of his batted balls allowed and 10.9% of those fly balls leaving the yard, his total amount of home runs allowed has nearly doubled over the past two years from where it was over his first two seasons in Houston.

Betting on a major rebound from a player who will turn 34 in July who has had troubling peripherals in back-to-back seasons and was a below-average pitcher last year always comes with a great deal of risk. With that being said, if an acquiring club can help Stanek get his home run problem under control in 2025 it’s easy to see the upside he could offer. The hard-throwing righty hasn’t lost anything off his fastball, which averaged 97.9 mph last year. His strikeout rate also rebounded in a big way last year after a noticeable drop in 2023, and in conjunction with his improved walk rates Stanek’s 17.4 K-BB% was the best he’s posted since 2018. The right-hander’s 3.56 SIERA was also the best figure he’s posted since that same season.

That upside could be enough to earn the veteran a major league deal this winter even in spite of his lackluster platform season. The Cubs are a sensible enough fit for the right-hander given their well-known pursuit of bullpen help this winter. While he’s hardly as impactful as other players Chicago has expressed interest in this winter like Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Ryan Pressly, and David Robertson, the club’s preference in recent years has been to focus their attention on reclamation projects for the bullpen like Julian Merryweather, Mark Leiter Jr. and Jorge Lopez. They’ve had some success in that area, and if they opt to dip into that pool of free agents again rather than sign a more reliable late-inning option Stanek’s velocity and previous track record of success should make him an attractive option.

As for Atlanta, the club has never been shy about paying for high-end relief talent. The Braves’ bullpen mix for 2025 already features Raisel Iglesias, Pierce Johnson, and Aaron Bummer in the late innings but the loss of Joe Jimenez for most if not all of the 2025 campaign due to offseason surgery has left room for another veteran arm. Atlanta previously was involved in Scott’s market before he signed with the Dodgers, but they’ve since signed Jurickson Profar for their outfield mix and any remaining money in the budget may be better served patching up a rotation that’s lost Max Fried and Charlie Morton in free agency this winter. That could make Stanek an attractive and affordable option for the club to roll the dice on.

Mets Had Interest In Jurickson Profar Prior To Braves Deal

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Outfielder Jurickson Profar landed with the Braves this week on a three-year, $42MM deal. Prior to that signing, he had interest from several clubs. On The Baseball Insiders podcast, Robert Murray lists the Blue Jays, Astros, Royals, Padres and Mets as teams that were in Profar’s market. Those first four club were connected to Profar in previous rumors but the Mets’ interest is new.

The Mets have already made a few tweaks to their outfield mix this winter. One of them was the massive Juan Soto deal, though they also acquired Jose Siri from the Rays. As of now, the group feels a bit crowded. Siri and Tyrone Taylor could share center field and fourth outfield duties while Soto and Brandon Nimmo are clear regulars in the corners. Starling Marte and Jesse Winker are also on the roster and perhaps profile best as designated hitters but both are still capable of playing the outfield somewhat.

Back in December, the Mets reportedly offered Teoscar Hernández a two-year deal, indicating a willingness to add to the outfield. However, that was before Winker was re-signed. The fact that they apparently hung around the Profar market even with Winker on the roster suggests a willingness to continue adding.

Given that the group is already a bit crowded, that would likely have to come with subtraction. Marte has been in trade rumors this winter with the Mets reportedly willing to pay down part of his salary. He is set to make $19.5MM this year in the final season of his four-year contract. No club is going to take on all of that. Marte is now 36 years old and has battled injuries in each of the past two seasons, which has led to declining defensive metrics. His offense was rough in 2023 but bounced back to roughly league average last year.

With Nimmo and Soto set to be in the corners, perhaps the idea was to have Profar be the designated hitter fairly regularly while occasionally taking the field to give Nimmo or Soto a break. Profar’s defensive metrics in left field aren’t strong, with -9 Defensive Runs Saved and -24 Outs Above Average in his career, so perhaps that would have been a good deployment of his bat. Hernández is also not a great defender, so perhaps the thinking was the same there. Nimmo has played lots of center field in his career but his marks up the middle have been declining and he’s about to turn 32, so it seems unlikely that was a strong consideration.

It’s also possible that Profar could have seen some time at first base. That hasn’t been his primary position but he does have 466 career innings there, spread out across various seasons. As has been well documented by now, the Mets and Pete Alonso have been in a staredown of sorts this winter and he remains unsigned.

The Mets seem to have some hesitancy about committing long-term to Alonso when they also want to have opportunities available for guys like Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña. Adding Profar was perhaps a bit of a better fit in that regard, since his ability to play the outfield would make him a slightly more versatile part of the roster compared to Alonso.

If the Mets have interest in other outfielders, there isn’t anyone of Profar’s caliber left in free agency. Soto, Profar, Hernández, Anthony Santander, Tyler O’Neill and others have come off the board this winter. Most of the remaining free agents are role players like Harrison Bader, Randal Grichuk or Mark Canha. If the Mets just want a bat, reuniting with Alonso is one straightforward path, though guys like J.D. Martinez and Justin Turner are out there. Guys like Luis Arráez, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Rhys Hoskins could potentially be available on the trade market.

RosterResource projects the club for a $297MM payroll and $293MM competitive balance tax number. Last year, they got those numbers to $336MM and $346MM respectively, so the club could still have some powder dry for a late strike if they are willing to get to similar levels.

Braves Notes: Profar, Kelenic, De La Cruz, Pitching Staff

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The Braves finally made their first significant move of the offseason this week, coming to terms with Jurickson Profar on a three-year, $42MM contract that’ll install him as their new everyday left fielder. Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos confirmed in chatting with the Braves beat yesterday that Profar will be ticketed for regular work in left field, with Jarred Kelenic and Bryan De La Cruz (who signed a split major league deal earlier this winter) competing for at-bats in right field (link via MLB.com’s Mark Bowman).

Profar told reporters via Zoom this morning that landing with the Braves is a near-ideal scenario. As a native of Curacao, he grew up idolizing countryman Andruw Jones and watching him with the Braves. He’ll now be united with friend and countryman Ozzie Albies with those same Braves. Profar indicated that as soon as free agency began, his top two preferences were to remain in San Diego or sign in Atlanta (via Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). The Padres, who are dealing with a payroll crunch and ownership infighting, never came close to Atlanta’s offer at any point in free agency, per Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

With Profar slated for everyday work in left field and Michael Harris II in center, that leaves right field as the only place for Kelenic and De La Cruz to get playing time early in the season. Ronald Acuña Jr. will be back to man right field eventually but is expected to miss more than a month of the season as he finishes off rehabbing last year’s torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. A platoon is possible, but Anthopoulos made clear that Kelenic “will get a lot of reps in right field” this spring and “will have every opportunity to be that guy.”

Kelenic, 25, came to the Braves by way of a convoluted series of salary dump trades last year. The former No. 6 overall pick and top prospect was effectively purchased from the Mariners, with Atlanta taking on the underwater contracts of first baseman Evan White and lefty Marco Gonzales to get Kelenic to Atlanta. Gonzales was subsequently traded to the Pirates, who took on about $3MM of his $12MM salary. White was shipped to Anaheim in return for another pair of underwater contracts: David Fletcher and Max Stassi. The Braves quickly flipped Stassi to the White Sox for a player to be named later, agreeing to pay the bulk of Stassi’s salary. When factoring in the dead money they absorbed and the associated luxury tax hits, they spent around $32MM to acquire Kelenic.

Suffice it to say, year one of the gambit didn’t play out as hoped. Kelenic got out to a decent start in April, slumped in May, had a monster showing in June, and then tanked for the majority of the final three months. On the whole, he hit .231/.286/.393. His 15 homers were a new career-high, but he also fanned in almost 30% of his plate appearances while providing slightly below-average defense in the outfield and slashing only .206/.236/.279 against lefties.

That anemic performance against southpaws is where De La Cruz could come into play. The longtime Marlin and brief Pirate was non-tendered earlier this winter and quickly scooped by by Atlanta. De La Cruz makes for an odd platoon partner for Kelenic, however. His right-handed bat is very clearly more productive versus lefties than the lefty-swinging Kelenic, but De La Cruz has still been a below-average hitter against southpaws in his career: .270/.315/.390 (92 wRC+). Considering Kelenic has only been about average versus righties in his career, it’s an underwhelming platoon unless one or both players take a substantial step forward.

That shouldn’t be a long-term issue, of course. Acuña should be back sometime in May or June. At that point, the Braves can rely on a Profar-Harris-Acuña alignment from left to right. Kelenic, whom Anthopoulos praised as an option capable of playing all three outfield spots, could then slide into more of a fourth outfield role with De La Cruz serving as a depth option in Triple-A.

With the outfield largely settled, the question of what’s next for the Braves naturally arises. Anthopoulos said last night that he has the flexibility needed to add to the rotation and/or bullpen (via David O’Brien of The Athletic). No deal in either department is close, however, and the veteran baseball ops leader emphasized that any rotation arm that’s brought in would need to be a decisive upgrade over in-house arms like Grant Holmes and Ian Anderson. Both are out of minor league options and thus very likely ticketed for roster spots to begin the season. O’Brien speculates that Atlanta will add a reliever and forgo a prominent rotation acquisition.

The Braves currently have Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Schwellenbach in the top three spots of the rotation. Spencer Strider will return at some point in the season’s first half after undergoing UCL surgery last April. Depth options in Triple-A include Davis Daniel, Bryce Elder and prospects Hurston Waldrep and AJ Smith-Shawver. Once Strider returns, that’s a lot of arms for what’s effectively one rotation spot — assuming good health for each of Sale, Lopez and Schwellenbach.

As O’Brien suggested then, a bullpen addition makes a bit more sense. The Braves will likely be without Joe Jimenez all season after the right-hander underwent knee surgery, subtracting a key piece of their late-inning relief group. With Raisel Iglesias, Aaron Bummer, Pierce Johnson and Dylan Lee all on board, there’s still a strong high-leverage foundation, but there’s plenty of room to add a reliever and still remain under the luxury tax threshold, if that’s a goal.

RosterResource currently projects the Braves for a bit more than $230MM of tax obligations, leaving them nearly $11MM from the $241MM threshold. Notable unsigned relievers who could fit into that budget include Kyle Finnegan, Phil Maton, Andrew Chafin, Danny Coulombe, Tim Hill and injury rebound candidates such as Kendall Graveman, Lou Trivino and Keynan Middleton. If the Braves are willing to cross the tax threshold for a third straight season (or engineer a trade to clear up a bit more breathing room), names like Carlos Estevez and David Robertson remain available on the market.

Braves Sign Jurickson Profar

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The Braves announced that they have signed free agent outfielder Jurickson Profar to a three-year, $42MM deal. The MVP Sports Group client will make $12MM this year and then $15MM in each of the next two seasons. Atlanta designated right-hander Connor Gillispie in a corresponding move.

Profar, 32, has been wildly inconsistent in his career but is coming off his best season. Once a top prospect with the Rangers, he made it to the majors as a 19-year-old but struggled in his first few seasons. He eventually showed some promise but frustratingly alternated between good and bad seasons.

He had one of those down seasons in 2023, which is why the Padres were able to sign him last offseason for just $1MM, barely above the league minimum. The Padres probably couldn’t have dreamed about the return on investment they would eventually get from that.

Profar got into 158 games and stepped to the plate 668 times. His 15.1% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate were both strong numbers but fairly normal for him. He managed to do more damage when he connected, without sacrificing any of his trademark plate discipline. His 24 home runs were a career high. The three numbers in his .280/.380/.459 slash line were all personal bests as well, apart from a .471 slugging percentage in his nine-game debut back in 2012. His 139 wRC+ easily eclipsed his previous personal high of 113 and was also put him in the top 15 among qualified hitters last year. The switch-hitter did that damage from both sides of the plate, with a 137 wRC+ as a lefty and 147 as a righty.

Given his capricious production over the years, it would be fair to be a bit skeptical that he could keep that kind of performance going. However, there are some encouraging numbers under the hood. Profar’s 44.8% hard hit hate rate, 91.1 mile-per-hour average exit velocity and 7.2% barrel rate were all significantly better than anything he had done before. His .302 batting average on balls in play was a career high but just a bit above the .291 league average.

Though Profar has played all over the diamond in his career, he’s mostly a left fielder now. He’s barely played the other outfield slots in his career. He hasn’t really been an infield regular since 2019. He logged just 18 innings at first base last year, the only place he played apart from left field during the campaign.

Profar’s work in left hasn’t been especially well regarded. Last year, he was given a grade of -8 from Defensive Runs Saved and -6 from Outs Above Average. Despite that, thanks to his huge offense and ten stolen bases, FanGraphs considered him to be worth 4.3 wins above replacement on the season.

That production was huge for the Padres, given that they had notable financial restraints, which is why they took that $1MM flier on Profar. They surely would have welcomed him back, given the longstanding ties between Profar and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. However, their financial situation is perhaps even more grim now than it was a year ago. They reportedly need to make significant cuts to the budget while also looking for solutions on the roster. In addition to Profar’s absence in left, they have question marks behind the plate, in the rotation and at shortstop.

Profar has also expressed a fondness for San Diego and probably wanted to go back, but he also probably recognized that this is probably his best chance at a free agent payday. He had previously signed a three-year, $21MM deal with the Padres going into 2021 but opted out of that pact after two years. He settled for modest one-year deals in the past two offseasons but has now secured himself a strong three-year deal. MLBTR predicted a three-year, $45MM deal for him at the start of the offseason.

For Atlanta, outfield has stood out as a clear area for improvement this winter. Ronald Acuña Jr. suffered a torn ACL in his left knee last year and missed the second half of the season. He’ll be back in right field at some point in 2025 but probably not on Opening Day. Players like Ramón Laureano and Jorge Soler were used to cover for Acuña’s absence but jettisoned after the season. Soler was flipped to the Angels while Laureano was non-tendered. The club’s acquisition of Jarred Kelenic last offseason also didn’t go especially well. He struck out 29.6% of the time and hit .231/.286/.393 for a wRC+ of 86.

Time will tell how the club plans to play it once everyone is healthy. Michael Harris II will be in center but Atlanta has its designated hitter spot committed to Marcell Ozuna. Profar and Kelenic can flank Harris for now but Acuña will eventually be back. The lefty-swinging Kelenic has better numbers against righties but the club presumably isn’t giving the Profar $42MM to be a short-side platoon guy.

Perhaps Kelenic will eventually get pushed into a fourth outfielder role once Acuña is back, though he may have a bit of time to prove himself worthy of more. Ozuna is an impending free agent, so perhaps the foursome of Harris, Acuña, Profar and Kelenic can better co-exist in 2026 and beyond. Kelenic does have an option remaining, so some time in the minors is possible as well.

With Profar now in the fold, RosterResource calculates Atlanta’s payroll at $212MM and their competitive balance tax number at $230MM. The latter is $11MM shy of this year’s base threshold. They opened last year at $223MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has previously said that he expects payroll to rise and that the club is willing to pay the tax again this year. However, most of his moves have been focused on adding financial breathing room. As mentioned, Soler was flipped in a salary dump and Laureano was cut. Travis d’Arnaud had his club option turned down. The club restructured the contracts of Aaron Bummer and Reynaldo López to kick some money down the road.

If there is still some powder dry, then perhaps Atlanta will pivot to adding some pitching in the coming weeks. They were connected to Nathan Eovaldi earlier in the winter and reportedly had an agreement in place with Jeff Hoffman, with Hoffman to be stretched out as a starter, before they grew concerned by something they saw in his shoulder during his physical. They were also connected to reliever Tanner Scott earlier in the winter. All those guys have signed elsewhere but the interest indicates Atlanta is looking to add to the staff.

For clubs still looking for outfield help, the market is essentially out of everyday players now. Juan Soto, Teoscar Hernández, Anthony Santander, Tyler O’Neill and Profar are now all off the board. The best remaining outfielders are role players like Harrison Bader, Randal Grichuk and Alex Verdugo. Clubs like the Royals, Astros and Blue Jays have been connected to Profar this winter, though the Jays signed Santander earlier this week.

Gillispie, 27, just signed a non-guaranteed contract with Atlanta in November. He made his major league debut with Cleveland last year but only logged eight innings and was non-tendered at season’s end. In his minor league career, he has thrown 426 1/3 innings with a 4.01 earned run average, 24.3% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. Atlanta will have one week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next for him. Since the waiver process takes 48 hours, any potential trade talks would have to come together in the next five days.

Robert Murray of FanSided was first with the agreement between Atlanta and Profar.

Yankees Claim Allan Winans

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The Yankees have claimed right-hander Allan Winans off waivers from the Braves, who designated him for assignment earlier in the week, as first reported by Chase Ford of MiLB Central.

The 29-year-old Winans saw big league time with the Braves in both 2023 and 2024. He’s been hit hard in the majors, yielding a 7.20 ERA in 40 frames, but has a strong track record in Triple-A. Through 256 innings at the top minor league level, Winans sports a 3.26 ERA, 21.8% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. He has a minor league option remaining, making him a candidate to give the Yankees some depth in the starting staff or length out of the bullpen.

Winans sits just 90-91 mph with his four-seamer and 89-90 mph with his sinker, coupling those offerings with a low-80s changeup and upper-70s slider. He’s excelled at limiting walks and piling up weak contact throughout his time in Triple-A, which has helped to offset below-average velocity and bat-missing capabilities. Major league hitters haven’t made hard contact with much frequency, but the hard contact he does allow tends to be quite loud; he’s averaged 1.80 homers per nine frames and allowed 10% of his batted balls to be barreled up, per Statcast.

The Yankees have multiple open spots on their 40-man roster, so they won’t necessarily need to make a corresponding move to accommodate Winans. He’ll compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster this spring, but with a crowded rotation that could lead to a trade of Marcus Stroman and a generally veteran bullpen, the Yankees seem likelier to open the year with Winans in Triple-A — assuming he remains on the 40-man roster for the rest of the offseason.

Rich Hill, Jesse Chavez Plan To Pitch In 2025

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Veteran pitchers Rich Hill and Jesse Chavez are 45 and 41 years young, respectively, and both recently told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that they intend to pitch in 2025. Both hurlers appeared in the majors this past season, albeit quite briefly in Hill’s case.

Hill made clear from the beginning of the 2023-24 offseason that his plan was to sign midseason. Doing so, he hoped, would keep his arm fresh down the stretch after he faded badly in 2023. More importantly, it would afford him more time to be at home early in the year with his family and to coach his son’s team. He wound up signing an incredible eighth contract with the Red Sox in August but pitched just 3 2/3 MLB frames before being designated for assignment and released.

As recently as 2022, Hill pitched a full season and was generally effective, despite that being his age-42 campaign. That year saw him make 26 starts, pitch 124 1/3 innings and notch a respectable 4.27 ERA with a 20.7% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate — despite averaging just 88.5 mph on his four-seamer. He was out to a solid start in 2023 with the Pirates, working to uncannily similar numbers through 13 starts (4.23 ERA, 21.5 K%, 7.4 BB%). Hill hit a wall at that point, however, and limped to a 6.57 ERA over his final 74 innings.

Hill hinted earlier this offseason that while he was still (at the time) undecided about pitching in 2025, if he did so it would likely again be on more of a full-season schedule. He’s also suggested he wouldn’t limit himself to pitching with teams near his Boston-area home. Only time will tell whether a club takes a look, but there’s little harm in what would surely be a minor league deal and non-roster invitation to camp.

As for Chavez, he’s coming off a much different year. Though he’s on the “wrong” side of 40, Chavez looked solid. In 63 1/3 innings for the Braves, he notched a sharp 3.13 ERA with a passable, albeit below-average 20.8% strikeout rate and a quality 7.2% walk rate. Chavez’s sinker sat at a career-low 90.7 mph, and his cutter lagged further behind at 88.5 mph on average. But the crafty right-hander nevertheless enjoyed plenty of success, due in no small part to solid command and a plethora of weak contact.

Atlanta generally used Chavez in low-leverage spots last year, but he was a member of the team’s setup core as recently as 2023, when he picked up 13 holds and regularly appeared in medium- and high-leverage situations over the life of 36 games.

Despite his age, Chavez has now turned in four straight seasons with a sub-4.00 ERA. His collective earned run average dating back to 2021 is a sparkling 2.91, and he’s logged at least average walk rates every year along the way, with the ’24 campaign being the only one of the four wherein his strikeout rate was below-average. Chavez has posted better-than-average grounder rates in each of the past two seasons, too.

Chavez seems to find his way back to the Braves every season. He signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in 2021, was selected to the major league roster in June and quickly emerged as a key bullpen piece. He inked a minor league deal with the Cubs in 2022, made the Opening Day roster with Chicago, and was traded to the Braves less than three weeks later in exchange for Sean Newcomb, who’d been designated for assignment. The Braves traded him to the Angels at that year’s deadline, but when the Angels placed Chavez on waivers late in August, there were the Braves to once again claim him back.

Chavez signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in November 2022 and spent most of the 2023 season on their roster. He inked a minor league deal with the White Sox last winter, was cut loose late in camp and, to the shock of no one, signed a minor league deal with the Braves. They selected him to the 40-man roster three days later.

Another minor league deal between Chavez and the Braves isn’t necessarily a foregone conclusion, but it sure wouldn’t come as much of a surprise, either. The fit is even more sensible with Atlanta already having lost right-hander Joe Jimenez to knee surgery that’ll probably wipe out his entire 2025 season.

Braves, Chasen Shreve Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Braves are in agreement with lefty reliever Chasen Shreve on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The CAA client will be in camp as a non-roster invitee and would lock in a $1.3MM base salary if he makes the big league roster.

Shreve, a former Atlanta draftee who debuted with 15 appearances for the club in 2014, made one MLB appearance as a member of the Rockies last season. He tossed a scoreless inning. That extended the veteran southpaw’s streak to 11 consecutive years logging some major league action. Shreve spent most of the ’23 season in the big leagues. He combined for 50 appearances between the Tigers and Reds, working to a 4.63 ERA across 44 2/3 frames.

While his big league appearance came with Colorado, Shreve played for a trio of Triple-A affiliates last year. He spent time in the Rangers, Yankees and Rox systems. Shreve turned in a cumulative 2.62 earned run average across 34 1/3 innings at the top minor league level. He fanned a strong 26.7% of opponents against a slightly higher than average 9.2% walk percentage. He got swinging strikes at a near-14% clip.

The results were good, but Shreve doesn’t have the velocity that teams prefer to stockpile in the bullpen. His fastball averaged 90 MPH in Triple-A last season. He averaged 89.4 MPH during his only major league appearance. He leans frequently on his slider and splitter to compensate for the fringe velocity. Shreve has neutral platoon splits over his career, so he’s not a great fit for lefty specialist work.

That’s not an issue for an Atlanta team that’ll have Aaron Bummer and Dylan Lee in the late innings. Angel Perdomo is out of options and will need to stick on the MLB roster or be made available to other teams. Depending on whether they carry Perdomo and keep Rule 5 pick Anderson Pilar, Atlanta could have two or three middle relief spots up for grabs in camp.

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